Auxiliary pedal for foot brake pedals



June 10, 1952 J. R. RUSCTO ErAL AUXILIARY PEDAL FQR 'F001' BRAKE PEDALS Filed sept. 17, 1951 A mmm n W. f. f a N 2 www M Noa .n mw A m J R4. Ma, M m, YW B .ff )Mw 16,., a 3 /02/3 il Patented June 1 0, 1952 AUXILIARY PEDAL FOR FOOT BRAKE PEDALS John .Richard Ruscito and Michael John Damon, Altoona, Pa.

Application September 17, 1951, Serial No. 246,952

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates generally to motor vehicle brake operating means and is directed particularly to improvements/in the foot pedal for such brakes.

ln the operation of motor vehicles, particularly those of the later models which are equipped with highly efficient brakes which take hold quickly upon a slight application of pressure upon the foot pedal, it is often highly important that the brakes be lightly applied to prevent skidding particularly when the vehicle is operating at a fair speed and the roadway is either Wet or icy. Under such conditions the brake pedal is applied quickly and with too much force theY brakes will grab or take hold quickly and a skid will result whereas if the brake is lightly applied or is pumped lightly the vehicle movement can be checked without throwing it into a skid.

An object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for a vehicle brake foot pedal which may be used` in place ofithe regular foot pedal to depress or move the lever which actuates the brakes, only slightly, so. as. to, prevent the brakes from closing tightly upon. orogripping the brake drum.

Another object of theiinvention is to provide a device of the character',v statedv which. can be easily and quickly applied to the4 lever. beneath the present foot pedal, without changingv any of the brake adjustment, whereby the brake.v can be actuated easily and quickly Withthe auxiliarydevice but at the same time its depression beyond a predetermined position isprevented Another object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary brake control device of the character stated which, inV addition to being so designed that it can be. easilyand quickly applied to the brake pedal lever, will not in anyl w-ay interfere with the normal operation of the regular brake pedal but which, when depressed by the foot of the vehicle operator in place of the regular brake pedal, willv cause the: movement, of the regular brake pedal lever but; will limit. such movement so that the brakes; can only bevv lightly applied.

Other objects and advantagedoi the invention will become. apparent as the,` description; of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part ofl the seecication, with the understanding, however, time the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a View in elevation of the left side of a brake pedal showing the auxiliary pedal attached thereto.

Figure 2'is a front view of thestructure shown in Figure 1.

Figure S is a top plan view of the structure of the preceding iigures.

Figure 4 is a View in plan of the mounting and arm without the vauxiliary pedal;

Figure 5-is a sectional view takenv substantially on the lined-5v of- Figuree;

Figure 6 is a View in elevation of a modified form of the invention shown appl-led to a brake pedal.

Referring now more particularly tothe drawing the numeral lllA designates a portion of the iioor board in a motor vehicle adjacent to the regu-lar foot operatedpedal bywhioh the vehicle brakes are applied. The numeral I2 designates the opening in the floor and the numeral l@ designates the brake pedal lever which:A passes through the floor opening and which-carries upon its top the Ipedal or head I-G- upon which the operato-rsfoot is placed in the act of depressing the'lever toy applythe vehicle brakes.

lnaccordance with the present inventionthere is provided a mounting body which is generally designated lil; forattachment tothe brakepedal lever I4! beneath the head' It; which mounting comprises a-plateEB-hav-ing an arcuate recess 22 inone endy edge, and a cap ZtY having an end edgeprovided with a recessed" corresponding to the-recess 22, which--capfi's positioned-against the said recessed7 end` of the plate Zillahd is secured thereto byJ screws 2d or in any other suitable Ina-nner. The opening Elfwhi'ch is formedhy the coacting recesses 22 and-'252 receives the pedal'lever ld sothat'when thescrews Ql are drawn up to tighterr the cap- 2da-againstv tliexbndy 2o the pedal lever wlw-ill be rrnly grippedi Tol increase the gripping action so as to maintain themounting I3 firmly in position on the pedal lever i4', a set` screw 2S: may be employed which is extended4 through the cap 24' in the manner illustrated to project into the. opening 2l.

At'the outer end of the plate 2Q, that is, the end opposite from the endv inwhich` the recess22 is formed, there is formed'the rectangular recess or slot 2e; thel'inner face of which slot is undercut as indicated at 3G. Positionedin this slot 2S is an end of an arm 3! which is pivotally joined to the plate 2G by the pin 32 which passes transversely through the plate and the end of the arm 3i as illustrated in Figure 4.

The inner end of the arm 3|, that is, the end in the slot 29, is beveled as indicated at 33 so as to engage the undercut face 30 of the slot thereby preventing the downward swinging of the outer end of the arm 3l beyond the horizontal or the plane of the plate 29. However, it will be seen that the arm 3| can readily swing upwardly on the pivot pin 32.

Upon the outer end of the arm 3l is supported an auxiliary pedal 34 which is supported at a slightly lower elevation than the head I6 of the brake pedal and it will also be seen that this auxiliary pedal is positioned to the left oi the brake pedal but the arm is oi such length that the auxiliary pedal 34 will not engage the adjacent steering post of the vehicle.

Directly beneath the auxiliary pedal 34 the arm 3l has xed thereto and extending downwardly therefrom the threaded screw or stud 35 and threaded upon the lower end of this stud is a foot L member comprising an internally threaded sleeve 3S in which the Stud is engaged, having a-lower end head 31.

The foot member, comprising the sleeve 316 and head 31, is adjusted on and lengthwise of the stud or screw 35 and after being adjusted as desired is held locked by the lock nut 38 threaded on the stud 35.

While the eiect of gravity will normally maintain the arm 3l and auxiliary pedal in its down position, in order to insure against the auxiliary pedal becoming raised and caught or stuck in such raised position there is provided a spring 33 which is connected between the lower end of the foot sleeve 36 and the underside of the plate 2d adjacent to the pedal lever I4.

In Figure 6 there is shown a slight modincation of the structure above described. In this modied construction the plate body is designated 29a and the cap which secures the plate body to the pedal lever I4 is designated Zta while the arm is designated 31a.

In this modiiied construction, in place of the xed stud 35, the outer end of the arm is provided with a threaded bore 40 in which is threaded an end of a long screw lil. This screw is adjustable lengthwise in the bore 40 and is held in adjusted position by a lock nut 42. 0n the lower end of the screw is a foot member 43 and connected with this foot member is an end of a spring 39a which extends upwardly and inwardly and has its other end attached to the underside of the plate 29a. The arm 31a, of course, carries an auxiliary pedal 34d as in the iirst described structure.

In the operation of the present device, after the device has been secured to the brake pedal lever at the desired elevation so that the arm 3l or Bla. extends to the left from the lever, the foot member carried upon the underside of the arm is adjusted with respect to the floor I0 so that when the brake pedal is in normal position there will be a clearance between the auxiliary pedal ioot member and the floor which, when downward pressure is applied to the auxiliary pedal, will permit the brake pedal lever to be depressed to a sufficient extent to lightly apply the car brakes. It will be readily seen that the arm upon which the auxiliary pedal is mounted is rigid when downward pressure is applied to the auxiliary pedal but such arm can swing upwardly freely so that when the foot pedal is used in normal operation there will be no interference with its downward movement to the desired extent necessary for full and rm application of the vehicle brakes.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides a novel auxiliary safety pedal for the application of motor brakes when the vehicle is operated on a roadway which 1s wet or may be slippery because of ice or some other substance on the roadway which would make it extremely dangerous or hazardous to apply the vehicle brakes to the fullest extent which would be possible by the application of pressure to the regular brake pedal.

It will also be readily apparent that the device of the present invention can be easily and quickly applied to motor vehicle brakes without having to make any changes or adjustments in the regular brake of the vehicle.

We claim:

1. In combination, a foot brake pedal and an auxiliary pedal, a pivot coupling between the pedals to permit an upward swinging movement of the auxiliary pedal on an axis extending transversely of the direction of the movement of the brake pedal, means for limiting the swinging movement ofthe auxiliary pedal downwardly relative to the brake pedal whereby application of downward pressure to the auxiliary pedal will force the brake pedal downwardly, a means attached to the auxiliary pedal and adjustable relative thereto for limiting the downward movement of the two pedals as a unit upon the application of downward pressure to the auxiliary pedal.

2. In combination, a floor board, a foot brake pedal passing therethrough, and an auxiliary pedal, a pivot coupling between the pedals to permit an upward swinging movement of the auxiliary pedal on an axis extending transversely of the direction of the movement of the brake pedal, means for limiting the swinging movement of the auxiliary pedal downwardly relative to the brake pedal whereby application of downward pressure to the auxiliary pedal will force the brake pedal downwardly, a stop means for limiting the downward movement of the two pedals relative to the floor board as a unit upon the application of downward pressure to the auxiliary pedal, and means whereby the stop means may be adjusted.

JOHN RICHARD RUSCITO. MICHAEL JOHN DAMON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the rile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 211,663 Jaberg Jan. 28, 1879 1,526,999 Mizner Feb. 1'7, 1925 1,645,846 Andres Oct. 18, 1927 2,078,324 Grifliths Apr. 27, 1937 2,124,100 Bailey s July 19. 1938 2,342,151 Patrick Feb. 29, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 501,077 Germany June 28, 1930 

